Landing By Moonlight:A Novel of WWII

SYNOPSIS

Based on the lives of a small group of American women secret agents working for British intelligence parachuting into France to help the Resistance during WW II.

The year is 1942, and American secret agent Catherine Thornton has no idea whether she will be dropped behind enemy lines in an inflatable raft launched from a submarine or be flung through the moonlit sky from a low-flying British Halifax. Either way, the young embassy wife and erstwhile journalist knows there’s always the chance she’ll be picked off by German sharpshooters, although nothing in her imagination prepares her for the trial-by-fire to come.

Only she understands why she volunteered for such “unwomanly warfare” and the secret reasons she joined a handful of female American spies destined to risk her gilded life on French soil–yet former Vichy diplomat Henri Leblanc, code name Claude Foret, thinks he knows the answers.

As Catherine’s missions grow more harrowing each day, and she fears she’s fallen in love with a captured fellow agent, the German SS begin to close in on the world of Madame “Colette Durand” and her Résistance network embedded in coastal cities along the French Riviera—an exposure that could threaten the Allied victory itself.

And hanging in the air like a half-opened parachute is the life-or-death question: Who is the betrayer and who will be betrayed in this, their finest hour?

“Thoroughly engaging” – BOOKLIST

Was recently nominated for the American Library of Paris Annual Book Awards
(for a book published in 2019)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ciji Ware
is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author
of twelve works of historical and contemporary fiction,
two of nonfiction,
and was short-listed for the Willa [Cather] Literary Award
for Historical Fiction in 2012.
A graduate of Harvard University in History,
she is an Emmy-award winning television producer,
a Dupont awardee for investigative journalism,
and an American Bar Association winner
of a Silver Gavel for her magazine work.
For eighteen years, she was a broadcaster and commentator for KABC Radio/TV in Los Angeles.
A recipient of Harvard’s prestigious Alumni Award in 2004,
Ware was the first woman graduate of the university
to serve as President of the Harvard Alumni Association, Worldwide.
Ware and her husband, Tony Cook, live in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Ciji Ware

Landing By Moonlight:A Novel of WWII

SYNOPSIS

Based on the lives of a small group of American women secret agents working for British intelligence parachuting into France to help the Resistance during WW II.

The year is 1942, and American secret agent Catherine Thornton has no idea whether she will be dropped behind enemy lines in an inflatable raft launched from a submarine or be flung through the moonlit sky from a low-flying British Halifax. Either way, the young embassy wife and erstwhile journalist knows there’s always the chance she’ll be picked off by German sharpshooters, although nothing in her imagination prepares her for the trial-by-fire to come.

Only she understands why she volunteered for such “unwomanly warfare” and the secret reasons she joined a handful of female American spies destined to risk her gilded life on French soil–yet former Vichy diplomat Henri Leblanc, code name Claude Foret, thinks he knows the answers.

As Catherine’s missions grow more harrowing each day, and she fears she’s fallen in love with a captured fellow agent, the German SS begin to close in on the world of Madame “Colette Durand” and her Résistance network embedded in coastal cities along the French Riviera—an exposure that could threaten the Allied victory itself.

And hanging in the air like a half-opened parachute is the life-or-death question: Who is the betrayer and who will be betrayed in this, their finest hour?

“Thoroughly engaging” – BOOKLIST

Was recently nominated for the American Library of Paris Annual Book Awards
(for a book published in 2019)

TOUR QUOTATIONS

It’s a memorable tale, filled with heroic moments and interspersed with sadness and the horrors of an unforgettable war.
It’s clear that Ciji Ware has done her research and deftly interwoven historical figures with true events into her story.
Fans of WWII stories will be left satisfied as they read about men and women who sacrificed everything to help win the war. According to the author’s notes, I was happy to learn that this is the first book in the Spy Sisters Series. I’ll definitely look for the next book, and eagerly anticipate learning more about the women who made a difference during WWII.

Readers need to get ready to hold on their seats because this book is one thrilling ride.
The author did a great job with the historical details that made me feel like I was part of the story.
I am giving Landing by Moonlight a very well deserved five plus stars. I highly recommend it for readers who enjoy World War II era novels. I loved it! I look forward to reading more by this author in the future.

Author Ciji Ware has crafted a well-researched and thrilling historical fiction novel of WWII. “Landing by Moonlight” has the kind of characters that grow on you and become people that you worry about chapter after chapter.
This story immerses you in the constant danger they had to have been under at all times and made for a tense, and exhilarating, reading experience.
Another aspect of this book I enjoyed were the various settings.
I recommend this book to historical fiction readers, especially those that want a pretty immersive tale. This one so very well done.

There are pieces of actual known history mixed in with the story, allowing a grounding in the reality of the war that spurs and speaks to the tensions and dangers that Colette and others face.
A lovely story and the first I’ve read from this author – it is certain to not be the last.

The author creates the wartime atmosphere brilliantly.
This novel is exciting and engrossing. Every character we meet is convincing and rounded, every setting atmospheric, every event carefully choreographed and contributing to such a wonderfully crafted whole.
It’s a book that stays with you long after you’ve finished reading it and throws a new perspective on the wartime period.

Not only was this novel well written, with an exciting plot, the author researched, thoroughly, the time period and the actual settings in various parts of France. By adding real personages and events, that happened, Ciji Ware added to the enjoyment of the novel.I recommend this novel to anyone who is interested in this time period, and loves spy stories.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ciji Ware
is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author
of twelve works of historical and contemporary fiction,
two of nonfiction,
and was short-listed for the Willa [Cather] Literary Award
for Historical Fiction in 2012.
A graduate of Harvard University in History,
she is an Emmy-award winning television producer,
a Dupont awardee for investigative journalism,
and an American Bar Association winner
of a Silver Gavel for her magazine work.
For eighteen years, she was a broadcaster and commentator for KABC Radio/TV in Los Angeles.
A recipient of Harvard’s prestigious Alumni Award in 2004,
Ware was the first woman graduate of the university
to serve as President of the Harvard Alumni Association, Worldwide.
Ware and her husband, Tony Cook, live in the San Francisco Bay Area.